]]>All Home Matches for Spring 2016 will be held at Godfrey Parkhttp://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=73
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 18:42:33 +0000http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=73We will be hosting all home matches at Godfrey Park, on Bay Farm in Alameda. Please check back for posts about schedules for both the Islanders (boys) and Riptides (girls) as it will be updated with locations for away matches and kick-off times the week of matches. Hope to see you there!
]]>Spring 2016 Practice days/locationhttp://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=71
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 18:40:19 +0000http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=71Beginning the week of January 18th, Alameda boys’and girls’ teams will continue practicing at our fall practice location, Woodstock Park in Alameda, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

Please check back for posts about match schedules for both teams. Happy New Year!

]]>GIRLS SCHEDULE 2016http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=69
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 18:38:06 +0000http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=69Continue reading GIRLS SCHEDULE 2016→]]>Thanks for checking out our schedule! There will be updates the week of matches to provide more details, such as kick-off times and locations for matches. All home matches will take place at Godfrey Park, in Alameda. All matches, except on Friday 4/1/16, are held on Saturdays.

Alameda Islanders are back in action with their first practice of Fall 2015 kicking off tonight, Wednesday 10/21/15 at 5pm! Coaches and veteran players will be there to welcome newcomers and resume developing skills in preparation for the competitive season in Spring 2016.

After tonight’s practice, training will continue every Monday and Wednesday from 5pm-7pm at Woodstock Field in Alameda, CA until mid-December. Come join us and see why rugby is the fastest growing sport in America.

]]>What to bring/wear to your first practicehttp://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=47
Thu, 15 Oct 2015 20:48:06 +0000http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=47Continue reading What to bring/wear to your first practice→]]>

Want to try rugby? Great!

Not sure what to bring/wear to practice? Keep reading…

What to Bring/Wear on the First Day:

Shorts: If you don’t have actual rugby shorts, any sort of athletic shorts will do. Avoid wearing shorts with buttons, zippers, large pockets, etc. Those garments can injure other players, and are easy to tear. Athletic pants without zippers/buttons are also recommended if it’s a chilly day/evening practice.

Shirt and Sweatshirt: If you don’t have a jersey yet, any t-shirt that can get dirty and/or be ripped will work. It’s handy to have at least two, one light and one dark, in case the team gets broken up to scrimmage. Having two shirts is also helpful in case one shirt rips, which is a common scenario. Bring an old sweatshirt or long-sleeve shirt too, in case the temperature changes. During the first practice you will likely need to observe contact drills, and wait to get waivers signed before jumping in, so having some sweats to throw on and stay warm is a good idea.

Cleats and normal shoes: Most ruggers wear soccer cleats (baseball or football cleats often do not meet regulations for rugby due to a cleat right under top of toes that can be dangerous while playing rugby). Show up in athletic shoes or sandals and change into your cleats once you get on the field. If you don’t have cleats, don’t let that stop you from coming to your first practice! Just wear a pair of running shoes until you can buy cleats. Some teams do their conditioning exercises on a track (when available), so you may be expected to bring running shoes anyway.

Water: Drinking water during practice is crucial for being able to survive an entire practice. Bring a reusable bottle, there are usually water fountains at the field, but it’s best to bring a full bottle and refill as needed at the water fountain.

Mouthguard: Even if you don’t expect to be doing any physical contact drills, you should have and wear your mouthguard during every practice. You should form your mouthguard to fit your upper jaw beforehand (instructions should be on the packaging), but even an unformed mouthguard is better than nothing. Getting in the habit of wearing your mouthguard at all times is just a good idea, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry. We usually have extra to give out so you can take it home and fit it to your mouth before next practice!

Towel: This is the only item that can be considered optional, but is extremely handy to have if you get dirty and need to clean up a bit before heading home.

Commentary by a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine

I support efforts to establish rugby teams in American high schools and colleges, and wish to alleviate any possible concerns about the sport’s relative safety.

I think I offer a unique perspective on the subject given that:

* I have been closely involved in rugby as a player and supporter since the early 1960s when I began playing the sport as a Harvard undergraduate, and

* I am a physician who is a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine; I am the author of over 200 scholarly journal articles on sports medicine (including the first-ever published study of rugby injuries in the United States); in my practice I have treated athletes of all ages from sports as varied as figure skating and football; and I am the chairman of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

A popular sport worldwide

Rugby is a dynamic contact sport that is played all over the world by men and women of all different classes, creeds, and races. It fosters friendship and camaraderie between players. To celebrate one recent Christmas, men from the American and New Zealand research stations in Antarctica played a game of rugby against each other on those southernmost frozen wastelands. Most rugby players have played with and against people from other nations.

Rugby is played in over 100 countries and is the most popular team sport in nations such as Japan, Fiji, and Wales. This sport could not be as popular as it is among the peoples of so many different cultures if it were dangerous! In fact, the risk of injury in rugby is relatively low compared to sports Americans embrace – such as football, ice hockey, and lacrosse – a fact borne-out by numerous studies to ascertain the risk of sports injury in different activities. The reasons for this are quite straightforward to those of us who study sports medicine.

Why rugby is a safe sport – paradoxically

The main reason rugby players have a relatively low risk of injury compared to football players is paradoxical – rugby players don’t wear protective equipment. Thus the rugby player doesn’t have the same disregard for the safety of his or her head, neck, and shoulders when tackling or trying to break through a tackle. The other reason is that unlike football, rugby is a game of possession, not yardage. Consequently rugby players don’t tackle by driving through the numbers as football players are taught to do with their heads when tackling a player. In rugby, players are taught to use their arms to wrap a player’s legs and let the momentum of that player cause him to go to ground. Furthermore, in rugby there is no blocking, and so players who don’t have the ball don’t get hit when they’re not expecting it.

One of the reasons rugby has a reputation for being dangerous in the United States is because when the average American sees rugby being played, he or she sees a free-flowing contact sport. Because it doesn’t have the familiar stop-and-start character of football and other TV-shaped sports, to the uninitiated rugby can appear confusing and scary.

Furthermore, while the bumps, bruises, and scrapes you see on the elbows, knees, and faces of many rugby players can appear alarming, they are of considerably less concern than the anterior cruciate ligament ruptures, finger fractures and dislocations, and chest contusions characteristic of a sport such as football in which heavy protective equipment is worn.

Injury rates

I performed one of the first studies of rugby injuries in the United States, which showed that compared to football, the incidence of injury in rugby is quite low My study was published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Sports Medicine. Subsequent studies have supported my results.

It would be disingenuous to suggest that rugby players never get injured. However, based on the numerous studies that have been done, the scientific conclusion we must reach is that rugby is not as injurious as certain other contact and collision sports that most of us believe deserve NCAA status, and is a relatively safe sport in the panoply of athletic endeavors available to our young men and women.

Since the early study I did, sports medicine has grown as a specialty and there has emerged a considerable body of literature on the safety of all sports, including rugby. If you review the literature you will find no evidence to suggest that rugby should be denied a legitimate place in high schools and colleges around the world.

For all the reasons outlined above, I have no hesitation based on my personal and professional experience to declare that rugby is worthy of a place in American colleges and high schools.

Dr. Lyle Micheli is director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and an Associate Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and currently serves as chairman of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Dr. Micheli is chairman of USA Rugby’s Medical & Risk Management Committee.

]]>First Practices for Fall 2015http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=38
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 21:07:24 +0000http://www.alamedarugby.com/?p=38Continue reading First Practices for Fall 2015→]]>Boys’ first practice will be held on Wednesday 10/21/15, from 5p-7p at Woodstock Field in Alameda. Girls will start on Monday 10/26/15, 5p-7p at Woodstock Field in Alameda.

After start of first practice, all the following practices for both boys and girls will occur every Monday and Wednesday, 5p-7p, at Woodstock Field, until mid-December.

Check back for more updates or follow alamedarugbyclub on Instagram or find us on Facebook!